I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9160 

To impose sanctions with respect to the system of compensation of the 

Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority that 

supports acts of terrorism. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2024 

Mr. LAWLER (for himself, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, 

Ms. STEFANIK, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. RULLI, Mr. 

BURCHETT, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. CISCOMANI, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. 

EDWARDS, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. HERN, Mr. 

WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. MEUSER, Mr. WILLIAMS of New York, 

Mrs. GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. MCCORMICK, Mr. GUEST, 

Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. KEAN of New Jersey, Mr. 

BABIN, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Mr. SELF, Mr. MAST, and Mr. HILL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To impose sanctions with respect to the system of compensation of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the 

Palestinian Authority that supports acts of terrorism. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘PLO and PA Terror 

3 Payments Accountability Act of 2024’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find6 ings: 

7 (1) The Palestine Liberation Organization and 

8 the Palestinian Authority provide hundreds of mil9 lions of dollars per year in payments, salaries, and 

10 benefits to terrorists and the families of terrorists as 

11 part of a system compensation that incentivizes, en12 courages, rewards, and supports acts of terrorism. 

13 (2) The Palestine Liberation Organization and 

14 the Palestinian Authority policies, laws, and regula15 tions that direct, authorize, enact, facilitate, and im16 plement a system of compensation in support of acts 

17 of terrorism require payments, salaries, and benefits 

18 to terrorists including those who are members and 

19 part of organizations designated as foreign terrorist 

20 organizations by the Secretary of State under sec21 tion 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

22 U.S.C. 1189), including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, 

23 that receive direct support including financial and 

24 military assistance from Iran, the leading state 

25 sponsor of terrorism in the world. 


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1 (3) In 2018, Congress passed the Taylor Force 

2 Act (title X of division S of Public Law 115–141; 

3 132 Stat. 1143) into law that calls on the Palestine 

4 Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Author5 ity to end their system of compensation that 

6 incentivizes, encourages, rewards, and supports acts 

7 of terrorism and restricts United States assistance 

8 ‘‘that directly benefits the Palestinian Authority’’ 

9 unless the Secretary of State certifies to Congress 

10 that the Palestine Liberation Organization and the 

11 Palestinian Authority have met specific conditions 

12 including terminating that system of compensation 

13 and revoking the policies, laws, and regulations that 

14 authorize and implement the system of compensa15 tion. 

16 (4) Despite the enactment of the Taylor Force 

17 Act, the Palestine Liberation Organization and the 

18 Palestinian Authority have continued their system of 

19 compensation that incentivizes, encourages, rewards, 

20 and supports acts of terrorism. 

21 (5) On October 7, 2023, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, 

22 and other Gaza-based terrorist organizations at23 tacked Israel on Shabbat and during the Jewish hol24 iday of Simchat Torah, committing the deadliest at25 tack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. 


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1 (6) On October 7, 2023, Hamas fired thou2 sands of rockets into Israel, deliberately targeting 

3 Israeli civilians, and thousands of terrorists invaded 

4 Israeli communities—massacring, raping, torturing, 

5 decapitating, burning alive, seriously injuring, and 

6 kidnapping Israelis and Americans, including men, 

7 women, children, babies, and grandparents, and in8 cluding Holocaust survivors, with children being 

9 murdered in front of their parents and parents being 

10 murdered in front of their children. 

11 (7) On October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered more 

12 than 1,200 who were mostly civilians, and kidnapped 

13 more than 240, including Israeli and American men, 

14 women, children, babies, and grandparents, and took 

15 them to Gaza as hostages. 

16 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It shall be the policy 

17 of the United States to hold the Palestine Liberation Or18 ganization and the Palestinian Authority accountable in19 cluding through the imposition of sanctions for providing 

20 payments, salaries, and benefits to terrorists and the fami21 lies of terrorists as part of a system compensation that 

22 incentivizes, encourages, rewards, and supports acts of 

23 terrorism. 

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ACT OF TERRORISM.—The term ‘‘act of ter2 rorism’’— 

3 (A) means an act of international ter4 rorism (as defined in section 2331 of title 18, 

5 United States Code); and 

6 (B) includes the meanings given the terms 

7 ‘‘terrorist activity’’ and ‘‘engage in terrorist ac8 tivity’’ by section 212(a)(3)(B) of the Immigra9 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

10 1182(a)(3)(B)). 

11 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT12 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com13 mittees’’ means— 

14 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

15 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

16 Representatives; and 

17 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

18 and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

19 Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

20 (3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per21 son’’ means any person or entity that is not a 

22 United States person. 

23 (4) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 

24 respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 

25 means that a person had actual knowledge, or 


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1 should have known, of the conduct, the cir2 cumstance, or the result. 

3 (5) SYSTEM OF COMPENSATION.—The term 

4 ‘‘system of compensation’’, with respect to the Pales5 tinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Or6 ganization, means the payments described in sub7 paragraph (B) of section 1004(a)(1) of the Taylor 

8 Force Act (22 U.S.C. 2378c–1) and the system of 

9 compensation described in subparagraph (C) of that 

10 section. 

11 (6) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

12 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

13 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law14 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

15 United States; 

16 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

17 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 

18 United States, including a foreign branch of 

19 such an entity; or 

20 (C) a person in the United States. 

21 SEC. 4. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON CERTAIN FOREIGN 

22 PERSONS SUPPORTING TERRORISM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act, and an ongoing basis 


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1 thereafter, the President shall impose the sanctions de2 scribed in subsection (b) on— 

3 (1) any foreign person that— 

4 (A) has served in a position as a represent5 ative, minister, official, or employee of the Pal6 estine Liberation Organization, the Palestinian 

7 Authority, or any other foreign person that has 

8 directed, authorized, been responsible for, mate9 rially assisted with, enacted, implemented, or 

10 otherwise facilitated the Palestine Liberation 

11 Organization and the Palestinian Authority sys12 tem of compensation supporting acts of ter13 rorism; or 

14 (B) has provided payments, salaries, and 

15 benefits to terrorists and the families of terror16 ists as part of the Palestine Liberation Organi17 zation and the Palestinian Authority system of 

18 compensation supporting acts of terrorism; 

19 (2) any entity that directly or indirectly has op20 erated, ordered, controlled, directed, or otherwise fa21 cilitated the Palestine Liberation Organization and 

22 the Palestinian Authority system of compensation 

23 supporting acts of terrorism including the Commis24 sion of Prisoners and Released Prisoners, the Insti25 tute for the Care of the Families of the Martyrs and 


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1 the Wounded, the Palestine National Fund, National 

2 Association of the Families of the Martyrs of Pal3 estine, or any successor, agency, instrumentality, or4 ganization, or affiliated entities thereof; or 

5 (3) any foreign person that has knowingly pro6 vided significant financial, technological, or material 

7 support and resources support to, or knowingly en8 gaged in a significant transaction with a foreign per9 son described in subparagraphs (1) or (2). 

10 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions that 

11 shall be imposed with respect to a foreign person described 

12 in subsection (a) are the following: 

13 (1) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.—The President 

14 shall exercise all of the powers granted to the Presi15 dent under the International Emergency Economic 

16 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent 

17 necessary to block and prohibit all transactions in 

18 property and interests in property of the foreign per19 son if such property and interests in property are in 

20 the United States, come within the United States, or 

21 are or come within the possession or control of a 

22 United States person. 

23 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, OR

24 PAROLE.— 


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1 (A) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.—An 

2 alien described in subsection (a) is— 

3 (i) inadmissible to the United States; 

4 (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 

5 documentation to enter the United States; 

6 and 

7 (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 

8 or paroled into the United States or to re9 ceive any other benefit under the Immigra10 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

11 seq.). 

12 (B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—An alien described 

14 in subsection (a) is subject to revocation of 

15 any visa or other entry documentation re16 gardless of when the visa or other entry 

17 documentation is or was issued. 

18 (ii) IMMEDIATE EFFECT.—A revoca19 tion under clause (i) shall— 

20 (I) take effect immediately; and 

21 (II) automatically cancel any 

22 other valid visa or entry documenta23 tion that is in the alien’s possession. 

24 (iii) PENALTIES.—The penalties pro25 vided for in subsections (b) and (c) of secVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Aug 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9160.IH H9160

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1 tion 206 of the International Emergency 

2 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) 

3 shall apply to a person that violates, at4 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or 

5 causes a violation of this section or any 

6 regulations promulgated to carry out this 

7 section to the same extent that such pen8 alties apply to a person that commits an 

9 unlawful act described in section 206(a) of 

10 that Act. 

11 (c) CONGRESSIONAL REQUESTS.—Not later than 30 

12 days after receiving a request from the chairman or rank13 ing member of one of the appropriate congressional com14 mittees with respect to whether a person meets the criteria 

15 of a person described in subsection (a), the President 

16 shall— 

17 (1) determine if the person meets such criteria; 

18 and 

19 (2) submit a classified or unclassified report to 

20 the chairman or ranking member, that submitted the 

21 request with respect to that determination that in22 cludes a statement of whether or not the President 

23 imposed or intends to impose sanctions with respect 

24 to the person. 

25 (d) IMPLEMENTATION; REGULATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may exercise 

2 all authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 

3 of the International Emergency Economic Powers 

4 Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) for purposes of car5 rying out this section. 

6 (2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 60 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

8 President shall issue such regulations or other guid9 ance as may be necessary for the implementation of 

10 this section. 

11 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) MATERIAL SUPPORT OR RESOURCES.—The 

13 term ‘‘material support or resources’’ has the mean14 ing given that term in section 2339A(b) of title 18, 

15 United States Code. 

16 SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FI17 NANCIAL INSTITUTIONS THAT FACILITATE 

18 TRANSACTIONS SUPPORTING TERRORISM. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, and on an ongoing basis 

21 thereafter, the President shall impose the sanctions de22 scribed in subsection (c) with respect to each foreign fi23 nancial institution that engages in the activities described 

24 in subsection (b). 


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1 (b) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—A foreign financial in2 stitution engages in an activity described in this subsection 

3 if the institution— 

4 (1) processes, participates in, facilitates, or pro5 vides a transaction that are payments, salaries, or 

6 benefits, or any other conduct described in section 

7 4(a); or 

8 (2) knowingly conducted or facilitated any sig9 nificant financial transaction with any foreign per10 son subject to sanctions under section 4(a). 

11 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The President shall 

12 prohibit the opening, and prohibit or impose strict condi13 tions on the maintaining, in the United States of a cor14 respondent account or a payable-through account by a for15 eign financial institution described in subsection (a). 

16 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) CORRESPONDENT ACCOUNT; PAYABLE18 THROUGH ACCOUNT.—The terms ‘‘correspondent ac19 count’’ and ‘‘payable-through account’’ have the 

20 meanings given those terms in section 5318A of title 

21 31, United States Code. 

22 (2) FOREIGN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The 

23 term ‘‘foreign financial institution’’ has the meaning 

24 of that term as determined by the Secretary of the 

25 Treasury pursuant to section 104(i) of the ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Aug 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9160.IH H9160

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1 prehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Di2 vestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8513(i)). 

3 SEC. 6. TERMINATION. 

4 The provisions of this Act shall have no force or effect 

5 only if the Secretary of State certifies in writing to the 

6 appropriate congressional committees that the Palestine 

7 Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority 

8 system of compensation providing payments, salaries, and 

9 benefits to terrorists and the families of terrorists that 

10 incentivizes, encourages, rewards, and supports acts of 

11 terrorism as described in this Act, has ceased to be in ef12 fect and is no longer taking place. 

Æ 


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